A technique to study the development in wood of soft rot fungi and its application to Ceratocystis ulmi

Abstract

The development of fungi causing soft rots and of ensuing cavities in cell walls was studied with a new technique, consisting in inoculation of sterilized wood sections placed on agar slants. The senior author proposes a new system of classification of the soft rot fungi. Applied to investigations on Ceratocystis ulmi (Buism.) C. Moreau, this technique permits further characterization of the morphology of this fungus, including the formation of microhyphae and microspore-like particles, often less than 0.5 μ in diameter, and recognition of the various configurations brought about by its growth in wood tissues. For example, microhyphae grow in a reticulate manner in close contact with starch grains, and these seem to break down.